At the beginning of the story, "A Rose for Emily," I felt like they were already setting her up as an archetypal character. She was well-known about town and a "tradition" (160). The mayor is also an archetype, he is not named but is just defined by his title. We know nothing else about him, but because he is the mayor, through the archetypal lens we already know(assume) many things about him. "The Negro" that works in her house is also an archetypal figure.
The death of a parent is also another archetype of element of story design. Miss Emily's father dies, and she is forever changed by it. The story suggests that she goes crazy because of it. In most stories where this archetype is present, one of the characters either tries to take revenge on the parent's murderer or carries the death in a traumatic way. Miss Emily deals with the death of her father in both ways almost. She was so traumatized by her father's death that she refused to properly acknowledge Homer's death.
The arsenic that Miss Emily tries to buy for rats is also an archetype. Or maybe just the idea of taking poison must be an archetype. The poison was mentioned in this story and already I can conjure up at least Socrates (hemlock) and Romeo and Juliet so there are definitely many associations with it.
I really didn't expect the ending, there was plenty of foreshadowing, I just never caught on to what was being foreshadowed. Maybe the smell that was coming from her house is also an archetype. The smell of decay is a symbol that would probably apply to any time period.
In "A Good Man is Hard to Find," is Florida an Archetype? Especially when in the first sentence there is mention of a grandmother, I think Florida can be made an archetype. We talked on Wednesday about how an archetype had to be a widely accepted (old) symbol. I'm not exactly sure how old the idea of old people moving to Florida is. If it is a tradition of over 50 years old, can it be a new archetype?
The Misfit is also a very strong archetype. He reminded me of Arnold Friend from "Where are you going, Where have you been?" He, like the Mayor and the Negro from "A Rose for Emily," has no real name only an identity characterized by his actions as a Misfit.
The family road trip is also perhaps an archetype in this story, but, like the idea of Florida, it is probably also a new one.
Hi Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking, based on "A Rose for Emily" and "Hills Like White Elephants", about how and when authors choose to name characters merely as archetypes. Even when not viewed specifically through the archetypal lens, it seems to me that when Faulkner names The Mayor, for example, the reader is implicitly directed to value the character primarily based on his societal role, job, function, etc. Whatever our opinions of the character, it seems they cannot be entirely separated from this role.
In the case of The American in "Hills like White Elephants," I found myself - even apart from the archetypal lens - unable to NOT evaluate him based on his name and its implications. This seems to reinforce the importance of this lens throughout literature, and as you point out, of societal function as a component of identity.
Whoops, I realized upon rereading "A Rose for Emily" that the Mayor is in fact referenced by name. That being said, his name and his title are used completely interchangeably, and at that, he is known by the Prefix "Judge" in stead of "Mayor." To me this all does contribute to the same point I've made above. Sorry for the confusion of my initial comment!
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really interesting that in your blog you discussed both archetypes and foreshadowing. When I was reading your post, I started to realize that archetypes could definitely be used as a method of foreshadowing. You specifically mentioned the archetypes of death of a parent and poison. Both of these things come with the feelings and implication of darkness and death. I think authors can use archetypes to foreshadow (like even using the appearance of a raven to foreshadow death or a black cat to foreshadow evil), however, what’s even more interesting, is that authors can use the archetypes to get the reader thinking in one direction, but then surprise them with something unexpected. Because we are programmed to think about archetypes one way, we would be shocked if the authors did not follow the lines of the archetype (for instance, if the poison did not foreshadow death at all, but something unexpected). Right now, I can’t really think of an example of this (haha) but if anyone does, let me know! ☺